Often, it is unsafe to consume water acquired from a naturally occurring fresh water source, such as a stream, lake or river. In some areas, fresh water also may be tainted by the local plumbing or water treatment facilities. In particular, the water may contain various inorganic or biological contaminants that may be hazardous to those who drink it. For example, the water may contain harmful heavy metals, minerals and soil sediment as well as bacteria, viruses, algae and so forth. It is therefore important for hikers, campers, travelers, etc. to remove these impurities from water obtained from untrusted sources.
Drinking water is typically collected from a water source and stored in a conventional storage container, such as a canteen or standard Nalgene™-type bottle. Portable water purification systems are currently available for purifying water within these storage containers. Such purification systems usually employ filtration systems and/or chemical or irradiative treatments to eliminate contaminants. For instance, the water may be disinfected by chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, iodine or ultra-violet (UV) radiation applied within the bottle or canteen. In addition, as the water is extracted from the bottle or canteen, the water may be passed through a mesh filter to remove larger particulates, such as heavy metals and the like.
The previous purification techniques decontaminate water stored within the water storage container, however, they do not prevent contamination of the outside of the container during the water-filling process. More specifically, people often drink directly from an opening, e.g., at the end of a protruding “neck” or inlet on the storage container, and are therefore susceptible to any contaminants that have adhered to the outside surface of the opening. As a result, the health of a hiker, camper, traveler, etc. may be put at risk by untreated water on the outside of the storage container even after the water stored inside the container has been decontaminated by conventional techniques.
The prior storage container water purification systems that employ filtration systems further suffer the disadvantage that “dirty” water is stored directly in the water storage container, with the filtering occurring as the water is extracted. Consequently, the inside of the container may have to be periodically cleaned to remove any waste build up that has collected therein.